aeo

How to fix: Opening 100 words contain a direct answer

Why this matters

AI engines extract the first clear answer they find. If your opening paragraph is throat-clearing ('In today's modern world…') instead of a direct definition, the engine often jumps to a competitor's page that does answer the question up-front.

Background

AI engines extract the first clear answer they find. If your opening paragraph is throat-clearing instead of a direct definition, the engine usually jumps to a competitor's page that does answer up-front. The inverted pyramid (answer first, context second, detail third) is now mandatory for AEO.

References

AI Overview extraction · Featured snippet best practices · IPA inverted pyramid

How to fix

Code snippet for each stack we cover. Pick the one matching your server / framework.

nginx

No server config — content rewrite.

apache

Same.

cloudflare

Same.

wordpress

Audit each post's opening 100 words. Rewrite to lead with a 2-3 sentence direct answer to the page's primary question.

flask

Same — content audit, not code.

express

Same.

rails

Same.

Verify it's working

Read your first 100 words aloud. Does it directly answer 'what is this page about?' in plain language? If not, rewrite.

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